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CONS

Tendency for puzzles to feel repetitive by the end; lacks a sense of satisfaction in solving similar puzzles.

VERDICT

Whatever platform you choose to play it on, MacGuffin's Curse is a fun puzzler with a surprising amount of depth thanks to its adventure-game inspired dialogues; challenging and amusing for gamers of all walks.

Full Review

App Store Info

Aussie developer Brawsome is not above a bit of cheeky advertising and my hat is fairly tipped to their tenuous use of ties to Adventure gaming's most well-known celebrities (Tim Schafer, for instance, has provided a single line of dialogue). All of this effort has gone in to spreading the word about their latest title, MacGuffin's Curse, an adventure game locked in to a world where you'll need to master pushing blocks to succeed.

You play as the titular MacGuffin, a thief who is cursed with a split personality by an amulet stolen at the start of the game. By stepping in to a patch of moonlight and activating the amulet, the player can switch between a strong, yet slightly thick-headed werewolf, and a slender, but quick-witted thief. Each room will test your ability to solve its challenges by utilizing these two halves, often needing to push blocks and flip switches in a particular sequence to move on.

Things quickly become more than a bit challenging, but you're never left completely out of your depth as the game provides a scaling hint system that can culminate in side-stepping a puzzle entirely to continue. As a sort of reward, players can head to rooms they've completed to unlock a note from the developer, acting as a sort of running commentary on the design process that went in to the game itself - this is a rare and extremely fascinating inclusion that's amusing and worthwhile in its own right.

Where the game falls a little short is in its presentation. While the environments and objects in a room are often clear, there's no real cohesiveness to the visual design, making most puzzle objects completely alien to the room they're in. It does help to highlight them, but only in the crudest of ways. With that said, there's more than enough side-dialogue to check out thanks to almost every object being interactive and having different responses from the two personalities.

MacGuffin's Curse is a treat for those after a fun mental workout packed with more than a few laughs at the expense of the characters and occasionally the developers themselves. Worth grabbing if you expect more than the usual implied storyline of most puzzle-adventure titles.

Description

Get addicted to this stunning werewolf comedy puzzle-adventure! ★★"A near perfect experience for players of all ages." - Gadget.com★★ Voted TouchArcade Game of the Week! App-Shack (4.5/5) - "Fans of the genre or tongue-in-cheek humor won’t want to pass up." Apple'n'Apps (4.5/5) - "One of the best adventure games in the App Store." AppSmile (4.5/5) - "Interesting storyline, tons of levels, simple controls, and cool artwork." Winner of the 'Best Game Writing Award' at the Freeplay independent Games Festival!

When desperate thief Lucas MacGuffin bungles a museum robbery, he finds himself bound to a mysterious ancient amulet. Using its powers to transform between man and wolf, he must sneak and smash his way through a mind-bending series of puzzles, bring down a terrifying criminal mastermind, and hardest of all, convince his daughter it isn't funny to fill the fridge with dog food. With charming hand-drawn art, an eccentric cast of characters and insanely catchy music, players everywhere will be touched by MacGuffin's heartfelt, relatable struggle to stay away from fire hydrants.

TRANSFORM FROM HUMAN TO WEREWOLF! Use the dexterity of a human and the brute force of a well-intentioned werewolf! Each character has their own unique skills, which can solve an inventive array of logical challenges in the style of much-loved hit adventure games.

QUICK-WITTED COMEDY: Play through a compelling story brimming with humor, personality and heart featuring dialogue straight from the golden age of adventure games.

A RICH, COMPELLING WORLD! Explore the surreal nightlife of an ancient carnival city in hi-tech lockdown inhabited by a huge cast of hilarious, well-developed characters, all masterfully created with unique hand-drawn art.

PLENTY OF AWESOME UNLOCKABLE CONTENT: Comics, post-game challenges, Easter Eggs and developers' commentary are all hidden throughout the game, meaning you’ll keep coming back long after the credits roll!

INTEGRATED HELP SYSTEM - Task tracking ensures you can focus on enjoying the game free of stress.

What's New in Version 1.061

*What's News in 1.061*

Fixed a loading bug in Lucas' apartment and the Alley that was causing some users to experience excessively long load times.

*What's New in 1.06*

A free, huge new "Treasury" update with coffers full of new content:
- Quests
- Puzzles
- Items
- Rooms
- Art
- Music
- Developer commentary
- And even a new achievement to unlock!